The Uncommon Career: Job Search & Career Coaching with Christian Values

If your resume isn’t getting the attention you want, then the solution may not be adding more keywords or squeezing another accomplishment onto the page. A winning resume starts with understanding your value, knowing where you want to go, and building a clear record of achievement that shows employers a consistent pattern of excellence. In this episode, three-time certified master resume writer and career strategist Emily Kapit shares how to craft a resume that reflects not only what you’ve done, but the impact you’ve made and the strengths that differentiate you. Whether you’re an individual contributor, manager, or executive, you’ll learn how to turn your career experience into a focused, compelling story that supports your next move. You’ll learn: ✔ How to build a powerful record of achievement that demonstrates your impact and pattern of success ✔ Why effective resume writing starts with career strategy and clarity, not simply keywords, templates, or formulas ✔ How to identify and communicate the accomplishments, strengths, and experiences that matter most for your target role ✔ How resume strategy differs for individual contributors, managers, and executives, including how to showcase leadership and cross-functional impact ✔ Why understanding your value and learning to communicate it clearly strengthens your resume, interviews, networking, and overall job search strategy About Emily Kapit: Emily Kapit is a 3X-certified Master Resume Writer as well as an industry leading career strategist and career resilience expert. She is also the Founder of ReFresh Your Step, LLC, a career advisory firm with clients located nationally and internationally. She and her team collaborate extensively with clients on The Kapitalize Process, an innovative methodology that addresses all facets of one’s career progression (internal & external) and resilience, including tactical career guidance, job search strategies, mock interviews, negotiation tactics, written professional assets, and more. Emily’s insights and guidance have been published in Forbes, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, Medium, HuffPost, and MindBodyGreen, among others. More from Emily Kapit Website: refreshyourstep.com Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn (Emily Kapit / Refresh Your Step) Email: [email protected] Connect with Me on LinkedIn Patricia Ortega

If you’ve ever been asked “What are your salary expectations?” and felt your mind go blank, you’re not alone. This is one of the most high-stakes moments in any job interview, and the way you respond can directly impact your earning potential for years to come. Many candidates unintentionally undercut themselves by naming a number too early, guessing without research, or feeling pressured into revealing expectations before understanding the full scope of the role. The good news is that you can take control of this conversation with the right strategy. By learning how to defer the question, redirect toward the employer’s budget, and use well-prepared negotiation scripts, you can stay confident and in control. In this episode, I'll will help you approach salary discussions with clarity, avoid costly mistakes, and ensure you’re positioning yourself for the compensation you truly deserve. You'll learn: ✔ How to answer the dreaded "What are your salary expectations?" question without hurting your negotiating position ✔ When to defer salary discussions, how to ask for the employer's budget first, and what to say if you're pressured to give a number ✔ Smart salary negotiation scripts that help you maintain leverage while keeping the conversation collaborative ✔ How to research and communicate a salary range that's grounded in the market, not guesswork ✔ Common salary negotiation mistakes that can cost you thousands and how to avoid them with confidence

If you walk into interviews prepared but still find yourself rambling, freezing, or circling the same point, this episode explains what’s really going on. Today, we'll break down why this happens most often to capable, experienced professionals—and why it’s not a confidence flaw or a communication problem. We'll explore the gap between preparation and pressure, and how belief in your preparation gets tested in real-time. When your mind and body don’t fully trust that your preparation will hold up, clarity slips. Once you understand that dynamic, it becomes much easier to communicate naturally, concisely, and with confidence. You’ll learn: ✔ Why rambling and blanking out come from the same root cause ✔ What pressure reveals about your interview preparation ✔ How belief in your answers is built—not forced ✔ Why mock interviews work when they’re designed correctly ✔ What actually helps your communication click under pressure

Do you feel like the job search is more competitive than ever - even for roles you know you’re qualified for? A lot is changing, from a flood of tech-enabled applications to today's topic, AI tools that are layered into applicant tracking systems. These tools are helping more candidates to be considered, but how can you make sure you are sharing your experience in a way that makes it easy to see the connection, even when more candidates are in the room? We'll talk about why clarity, relevance, and consistency matter more than just keywords. Understanding how candidates are scored, ranked, and resurfaced helps you stop competing blindly and start positioning yourself more intentionally. You’ll learn: ✔ What hiring systems look for beyond keywords and job titles ✔ Why clarity and consistency now outweigh broad experience ✔ The three most important actions to take to stay competitive going forward ✔ Why past applicants and former employees can now be resurfaced more easily Cut 3 months off your job search in 90 minutes (start here)Create a clear brand & job search strategy that cuts 3 months off your search:https://theuncommoncareer.com/intensive Learn our 5-step job search strategy:https://theuncommoncareer.com/process Connect with me on LinkedIn (let me know you're from the podcast):https://www.linkedin.com/in/pmortega/ . . . . . . _____________________ Patricia Ortega is known for coaching clients to a strategic, emotionally intelligent approach to job searching that emphasizes clarity over activity, quality over quantity, and positioning over bragging. She helps mid-career professionals rise above crowded applicant pools and land aligned roles faster by combining three core areas: 1) Clear branding and messaging, 2) job search strategy, and 3) Identity, Confidence, and Emotional Intelligence Under Pressure. She operates from a Christian worldview. She believes excellence and integrity can coexist, and you don’t have to exaggerate or compromise who you are to compete at a high level. Learn more at https://theuncommoncareer.com. .

If the job search keeps dragging on because things never feel quite “ready,” this episode puts a name to what’s happening; perfectionism. Today’s conversation breaks down how perfectionism quietly stalls momentum by pulling attention into small details while the bigger goal slips further away. We'll walk through the cycle perfectionism creates, how it shows up in resumes, interviews, and decision-making, and why it feels productive—even when it’s not. More importantly, this episode helps you identify where perfectionism is coming from and what kind of shift actually gets you moving again. The goal isn’t to do things perfectly, but to act decisively, preserve energy, and focus on what truly drives results. You’ll learn: ✔ The perfectionism cycle that quietly kills job-search momentum ✔ How to recognize when “refining” turns into avoidance ✔ The three different scenarios perfectionism usually falls into ✔ Why decisiveness creates clarity faster than over-research ✔ How to choose the right support to break the cycle and move forward Cut 3 months off your job search in 90 minutes (start here)Create a clear brand & job search strategy that cuts 3 months off your search:https://theuncommoncareer.com/intensive Learn our 5-step job search strategy:https://theuncommoncareer.com/process Connect with me on LinkedIn (let me know you're from the podcast):https://www.linkedin.com/in/pmortega/ . . . . . . _____________________ Patricia Ortega is known for coaching clients to a strategic, emotionally intelligent approach to job searching that emphasizes clarity over activity, quality over quantity, and positioning over bragging. She helps mid-career professionals rise above crowded applicant pools and land aligned roles faster by combining three core areas: 1) Clear branding and messaging, 2) job search strategy, and 3) Identity, Confidence, and Emotional Intelligence Under Pressure. She operates from a Christian worldview. She believes excellence and integrity can coexist, and you don’t have to exaggerate or compromise who you are to compete at a high level. Learn more at https://theuncommoncareer.com. .